1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, systems, and products for inserting into a document a screen image of a computer software application.
2. Description of Related Art
When building technical documents such as computer software application documentation in multiple languages, it is very expensive and laborious to include any content that includes graphic images that contain text that must be translated. One approach the industry has taken is to separate the graphic content from the text content, although that approach does not yield good results from a usability perspective.
Another approach the industry has taken is to simply exclude graphic images from documentation publications. This approach has been motivated primarily because of cost and schedule pressures. As a computer product undergoes test, any changes in screen images of the product require changes in the translated documentation content, thus having adverse impact on the product's delivery schedule. Although not having (or minimizing) any graphic content in documents certainly reduces the translation expense, it has been shown in many cases that usability has also suffered as a result of having only text and no graphics content.
Another approach taken by some in the Information Development community as formulated in the Technical Report entitled “Incorporating Screen Captures in Multi-language Technical” by Kimberlee C. Maselli, et al. is to re-render screen-captured images (usually in jpg format), using software that provides a layered separation of the graphics from the textual content, and to simply translate the textual content. This solution offers improved options to Information Developers, but it does not take into account screen layout changes required by newly translated text, text bidirectionality requirements, or even the length of the translated text. There is ongoing need in the art for improvements for including screen images in documentation for computer products.